Question: William's Furniture Store buys a sofa at a wholesale price of $144.00. If the markup rate at William's Furniture Store is 45%, what is the total markup for the sofa in dollars?
Solution: Remember that a markup rate is a percentage of the wholesale price that a store adds to get a selling or retail price. The amount of markup can be found with the following equation: markup rate $\times$ wholesale price $=$ amount of markup Since the markup rate is a percentage, we have to convert it into a decimal first. Percent means "out of one hundred," so $45\%$ is equivalent to $\frac{45}{100}$ which is also equal to $45 \div 100$ $45 \div 100 = 0.45$ Now you have all the information you need to use the formula above! $0.45$ $\times$ $$144.00$ $=$ $$64.80$ The amount of markup on the sofa is $$64.80$.